“Tree.” Kimma screamed. “Get out here. Right now.”

“Hey, Kimma.” I mentally shivered. “What's going on?” I asked.

“What have I said about making abominations?” Kimma asked me in a tight voice.

“Don’t do it unless I really want to?” I replied.

“No.” Kimma said in a barely constrained voice. “You need to stop making stupid shit.”

“Excuse me.” I said. “I don’t make stupid shit. Everything I make is awesome.”

“Look at these birds.” Kimma said while pointing at some rather large quail I had been feeding mana.

“What about them?” I asked. “They seem pretty normal to me.”

“How big are they supposed to be?” Kimma asked.

“I don’t know.” I deflected. “It’s hard for me to judge size as a tree. All you squishies look pretty small to me.”

“I was just talking to Kendra.” Kimma said. “They are only supposed to be about six inches tall. Why are they as tall as a human?”

“This is a high density magical area.” I reminded her. “It’s only to be expected that there is some bleedover over to other species.”

“Listen.” Kimma began to tell me. “You need to cool it with the weird stuff. The Council of Trees is very strict about this sort of thing. You cannot go around messing with the life essence of living things. They might decide to prune you.”

“I’m assuming pruning is a bad thing?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s exactly bad as it sounds.” Kimma told me. “What were you planning on doing with the quail anyways?”

“They are almost big enough to ride.” I told her. “I thought the humans could use them as battle quail. I was going to call them war beaks.”

“War Beaks?” Kimma asked.

“Yes, War Beaks.” I replied. “And it’s going to be awesome. Uh Oh.” I suddenly felt a shift in my nether regions. “Oh, that’s not good.”

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Deep below the tree, Khugar and her team of diggers were digging. That was all they did. Dig, dig, dig.

Digging was life. Khugar had felt a difference in the area she was digging in. Mana swirled and danced around her claws. Rocks dissolved and melted beneath her swings. The team with her weren't as strong as she was but they were just as determined.

Suddenly her claw fell into open space. There seemed to be another tunnel down here already. She was confused. She was certain she was the first ant to come down here. She was so deep it was actually warming up.

She wandered into the first chamber. She could hear the distant sound of scuttling. There was something else down here. She turned to her team.

“Follow me.” Khugar chittered. “We must see what else there is to dig down here.”

After receiving nods in acknowledgement, Khugar ventured forth. The tunnels were tall enough that two Khugars standing on their shoulders would be hard pressed to reach the ceiling. There was a glowing blue moss slicking the sides of the tunnel.

One of Khugar’s companions tried to eat a bit of the moss. She quickly spit it out. It was bitter to the tongue.

The group walked single file until the tunnel opened out. Khugar could sense where the rock was at. The light from the moss was overwhelming her darkvision. There were washed out images flashing in her eyes.

She finally saw what was in the cavern with her. It was an enormous worm creature. It opened its mouth and let a deafening screech. Rock dust filtered down from the ceiling of the cavern. Khugar brandished her claws and made ready to fight. She was not afraid. She could crush rock. She could crush this stupid worm.

She moved forward to dig a hole in the worm’s stupid head. How dare someone dig where she wanted to dig. She would dig them.

She moved forward to smash the worm. The worm hissed and moved to bite her. Her claw glowed with golden light and cleaved the head of the worm in twain. She chittered in victory. She was still the best digger in the world.

She felt a stinging pain on left arm. Something else was in here too. A long spiky looking worm had attacked from stealth. It had taken off her left arm. She screamed in rage and attacked again. Again her claw glowed with a golden shimmer. Again she swung at the interloper. She missed. The beast wasn’t there.

“Where is it?” She yelled at her group. “Spread out. Don’t let it get away.” She commanded.

Her second digger lieutenant took up a position to her left. The little digger scuffed some dust into the air.

“Look for changes in the dust.” Andry called out.

“Good job.” Khugar called out.

The ants began looking for the monster that attacked them. They were distracted by the screams of more monsters pouring into the cavern.

Beetles came in from behind. Rats came in by a side passage. The worm wasn’t originally attacking. It was calling for help. The ants were beset on all sides. The cavern devolved into a swirling snarl of underground monsters. Flashes of light coincided with magic attacks. Golden flashes, blue glows blinded everyone alike. An actinic smell settled over the area as magical energy was discharged.

When it was over, only Khugar and Andry were left standing.

“We need to leave.” Khugar said. She began to pick up the bodies of her companions.

“You grab the other one.” She instructed Andry.

She hurriedly left the cavern. Khugar had realized she had left an opening into the tunnels beneath the Tree. She couldn’t leave Tree unprotected. As she crawled through the opening she had made to enter the cavern she collapsed the walls so nothing could follow.

It was nothing to her to dig it out. She was a good digger. Khugar smiled thinking about how happy Gina would be to have something to fight.